Comments on: Across The Universe Hits Video: Lennon and Harrison Glad To Be Dead

By: mcrmad

mcrmad — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:47:01 +0000

Yes, I have to agree, the plot was cliched and somehow managed to make no sense at the same time, but it’s still my fucking favorite movie of all time. That would be because I’m an aspiring director (read works at burger king) and the art and symbolism and shit is AMAZING.
So, unless you’re a total flim geek or have never heard of the Beatles, don’t watch it.

By: Kris Wright

Kris Wright — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:31:28 +0000

What I would love to see is a live action version of “Yellow Submarine” directed by Julie Taymor. I think her talents are perfect for turning two dimensional cartoon characters into live action spectacles.

But Across the Universe? Total pap. As a life-long Beatles fan, thirty years old, it felt like I was watching some totally irrelevant people jump in and take credit for the Beatles’ great songs and legacy. Everything great about this movie was already in the songs and everything not already in the songs wasn’t great. It didn’t feel like a tribute or a celebration of the Beatles at all. It felt like f**king plagiarism.

What I sincerely hope is that all the kids who have been introduced to the deeper cuts from the Beatles catalog through this movie will, with time, come to realize how little this film has to do with that greatness. I hope they’ll be listening to Abbey Road if they want to hear “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and not this movie’s soundtrack. There’s hope. I remember a time when I thought Belly’s cover of “Are You Experienced?” was superior to Jimi’s original…

By: patrick

patrick — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:59:23 +0000

truly, this movie was incomprehensible to me, as i was not born until the 80’s

By: Krystal

Krystal — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:45:42 +0000

You completely captured how that piece of crap movie made me feel.

For anyone who truly loves the Beatles, and wants to see an amazing show made out of their music, check out Cirque Du Soleil’s “Love”. I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet, but I saw it in Vegas with my husband (in the front row, I might add), and it was the experience of a lifetime. As close to a Beatles concert as I’ll ever get…

By: Been There ...

Been There ... — Wed, 07 May 2008 22:15:10 +0000

Okay, if nothing else we have to admit that this is one of those rare movies that elicits a STRONG response, one way or the other. I confess to being a 60’s survivor … I actually saw the Beatles perform … and I loved the movie. It certainly wasn’t perfect … as much as I love Eddie Izzard, he should have ended up on the cutting room floor, and Bono was incredibly fucking annoying as only Bono can be. But there were some moments that were simply sublime. For example, the arrangement of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” was magical (although Prudence was pretty much irrelevant after that). There was so plot, but so fucking what?? Moulin Rouge wasn’t exactly Shakespeare. I think Julie Taymor is a genius, and you either love or hate her work (I loved Titus, most people hated it). I gotta agree with everything that Lucie said in her post. I also think the review contained a lot of truth, but I have to say the movie actually moved me!

By: Caden

Caden — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:37:57 +0000

I second Lola, I’ve only watched it stoned and so the plot line, or lack of, didn’t matter given that I couldn’t follow one if it was there. The art and music aspect of the movie blew my mind, I still don’t know how they wound up with Eddie Izzard in the middle of no where singing Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite and I, frankly, don’t really care because it was fantastic. I haven’t found any one of the renditions that I liked better than the original and didn’t really expect to, nor did their throwing the songs together in hopes of making a movie really make much sense with quotes from me to my roommate (who watches it sober and loves it) such as “how can you watch that sober, it doesn’t make sense, some random asian chick walks through the middle of a football game and doesn’t even get slammed and then has randomly locked herself in their closet and then bam! they’re singing to her while floating in the sky surrounded by clouds… which was awesome but seriously wtf?”.

I guess since I was baked I never really questioned how insulting this poor plot line is to the amazingness of the part of the movie I paid attention to. Now that I’m looking at it from a sober point of view.. you have a very good point.

By: bha

bha — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:24:05 +0000

the movie was crap, the movie was soooo bad EVERYONE watched it more then once (almost, anyway)

i think the movie was awesome.. not particularly as a movie itself but because it made me fall in love with the beatles all over again. probably because i could not entirely relate to their songs all that much. The fact that the movie put THEIR songs into normal.. i don’t know.. these situations where.. everyone had something to relate to, something which made them feel.. something. i dont know.

it was quite abstract.. the story didnt really have much of a direction, wasn’t going anywhere. but i thought that was cool, you know? because you take whatever you want from it. i mean the characters themselves didnt have much to them, they were kinda lost in whatever they kept getting themselves into. which is fine..

YES, i didnt get what prudance… erm.. WAS. she was just THERE. in fact everything was just happening.. and THERE. but.. its always interesting to have some abstract kinda view of.. things.

yes, the movie wasnt any good without the songs. which is sad cuz the songs did well without the movie.

but again.. i liked it!

i think strawberry fields forever was amazing.

By: Lucie

Lucie — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:20:16 +0000

I absolutely adored the movie.
That being said, everything in this review is true also.

And as an added note, my reasons for liking the movie were NOT because I’d never heard any other Beatles song besides “All You Need is Love” in my life. I’ve been a Beatles fan my whole life and when this film came out, I was pushing pre-pubescent teeny boppers out of the way so I could get my ticket.

I proceeded to buy the DVD upon its release.

Yeah, this movie isn’t a Citizen Kane. But were you honestly expecting it to be? I thought it was great for what it was worth.

By: Gladstone

Gladstone — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:15:43 +0000

Wow, I didn’t realize te comments were still going and with some good ones at that! Yeah, this movie could not have been made without Moulin Rouge and I think Moulin Rouge surpassed it in every way. The balance between plot and song was far superior in MR.

Now I know when you have Beatles songs — some of the greatest songs ever written — you can’t just slop them around and use just one line like they did in MR. But then, maybe, that’s the reason you shouldn’t try to make a movie like this in the first place.

By: Mia

Mia — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 22:10:22 +0000

I love the movie very much, even though I have to admit that a couple of actors really annoyed me. If they were replaced with better actors, I would have loved it 10 times more.